Well I struggled mightily on this given many experienced reviewers' concerns about Simpsons quality & variability but I got to a place where I simply HAD to check out a Chubby for face lathering of soaps. There were enough posts from folks who indicated they weren't having problems that allowed me to rationalize this purchase despite the risks. There is a lot of great information about Simpsons on the boards - I read it all and took it all very seriously. I ordered through Lee and he was a pleasure to deal with. He included some complimentary Conk soap to try out the new brush with.
My initial thoughts with more to follow:
Simpsons Chubby 1 in Super
My initial thoughts with more to follow:
Simpsons Chubby 1 in Super
- Hair type: Tough to say - I didn't specify on order and it looks like this is a "two banded" variety. For about a third of the length of the brush (from the top towards the handle), the hairs are very white followed by a dark color that is a "blackish brown". At the base of the knot/handle it looks like some of the hairs lighten up again but you have to look really close to see this. I'll try to get a pic posted. 2 band or 3 - you decide. I didn't try specify as I have no point of reference on what the different hairs were going to feel like so I just went with Super and decided to see what I got. If SBAD continues and I like Simpson's I'll further triangulate from here now that I have a reference point.
- Pre-bloom: Dense, dese, dense - just what I was looking for. Man this thing is dense. Oh, did I say this was dense? The head is more bulbish than fan shaped (again pre-bloom).
- Handle: The Simpson's handles are touted as being top notch, hand turned, etc. It's a nice handle but I think the B&B handle is nicer (not even taking into account the personalized metal base!). I like the heft of the B&B. The B&B finish looks better & feels smoother. The Simpson's helped reinforce my thoughts of how nice the B&B brush is, especially for the price we got it for (nice job Joel, John & others!). I didn't buy a brush based on handle quality but I do notice the details.
- Handle size: I was going back & forth in deciding between size 1 and 2. I have big hands (6foot3 bass player) and was worried about a CH1 handle being too small. I also wanted to get a brush big enough to fill up with enough lather for three passes plus touch up. I ended up going with a CH1 because lack of lather hasn't come up in any reviews for the CH1's and I also wanted to go smaller to have something that would work nicely with the wooden bowl soaps & QED tubs. That put me into the zone of being concerned about handle size. The CH1 handle size isn't going to be a problem. The Chubby fits fine in my hand and I like the grip it provides. What can I say - I'm a leftie and I've been living in "righty's" world my whole life, dealing with all sorts of ergonomic challenges. Compared to using a right handed scissors in my left hand, this thing is luxuriously comfortable.
- The label: No obcessing here. I simply pulled it off right out of the box. It peeled away easily. I didn't want the dissapearing label to disctract me from my first shave and I didn't want to mess with nail polish to keep it in place. A more permanent, colored label on these these things would be nice.
- Smell: It smells like an animal but it's not too bad. It hasn't gotten wet yet, we'll see tomorrow!